It was somewhat ironic that, after
some drivers kicked up a fuss
in Belgium about the tyres that
they should come back to again
dominated the headlines in Italy.
Lewis Hamilton's win was anything
but assured immediately after the
race when it was revealed his car had
started with an illegally low pressure
in the right rear tyre. The team was
summoned to the stewards and
the matter investigated for some
time post race before Hamilton was
eventually confirmed as the victor.
Hamilton's left rear had been found
to be 0.3PSI under the minimum
19.5PSI when it was measured on
the grid, just prior to the race start.
As part of the technical regulations,
the penalty Mercedes faced was
exclusion from the race, which is
what many in the paddock expected
would happen.
But an hour after the race Hamilton
was confirmed as the official winner
of the Italian Grand Prix when
stewards accepted the argument
presented to it by Mercedes.
"Having heard from the Technical
Delegate, the Team Representatives
and the Pirelli Team Tyre engineer,
the Stewards have determined that
the pressure in the tyres concerned
were at the minimum start pressure
recommended by Pirelli when
they were fitted to the car," read a
statement from the FIA.
It added that the tyres had been
out of their blankets for some time
and those blankets hadn't been
turned up to the maximum permitted
temperature as outlined by Pirelli.
As such it was perceivable that the
pressure could have dropped as the
tyre cooled, and not because the
team had tried to pull a fast one.
"As Mercedes-Benz, our number
one priority is to operate our car
within the prescribed safety limits and
this is not something we would ever
take a chance on," assured Mercedes'
head of motorsport Toto Wolff.
"We worked very closely with Pirelli
since Spa to help define these limits
for the race weekend in Monza, and
we saw today that there were no
problems in a very high-speed, hard-
fought race."
Hamilton's final margin of victory
was 25 seconds, having increased
in the final laps after his team
instructred him to push hard to open
the gap - "dont' ask questions, just
execute," he was ordered. "We will
explain later."
With Nico Rosberg failing to finish -
whose tyres were 1.1PSI down on the
minimum starting pressures on the
grid - he now moves 53 points clear in
the drivers championship.
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F1 >>> ITALY
PARTNERS:
Mercedes calm under pressure